The United States will play Australia in an exhibition in South
Africa on June 5, the Americans' final game before their World Cup
opener against England a week later.
The match will be played at Ruimsig Stadium in the
Johannesburg suburb of Roodepoort, the U.S. Soccer Federation said
Monday. It will be only the third matchup between the nations
following a 1-0 Australia victory at Orlando, Fla., in June 1992,
and a 1-1 tie at San Jose, Calif., in November 1998.
The game could produce a matchup of U.S. attacker Clint
Dempsey facing his Fulham teammate, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, and
American midfielder Landon Donovan going against Tim Cahill, his
teammate on Everton this season.
It also involves rival nations trying to win rights to host
the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
The 18th-ranked U.S. plays the No. 25 Czech Republic at East
Hartford, Conn., on May 25 and meets No. 41 Turkey four days later
at Philadelphia before traveling to South Africa, where the
Americans are in a first-round group with eighth-ranked England
(June 12), 27th-ranked Slovenia (June 18) and 32nd-ranked Algeria
(June 23).
Australia, ranked 23rd, is in a first-round group with
fifth-ranked Germany (June 13), 28th-ranked Ghana (June 19) and
13th-ranked Serbia (June 23).
